The Most Precious Gem
by WolfxSoul
Summary: They glitter with the utmost brilliance and are unmatched in beauty. They are precious. Emeralds, rubies, sapphires, the magical stones that invoke different feelings in each person. She was obsessed with one of the worlds most magnificent creations. She would do anything for them. But soon she would find someone who would show her the most precious of gems, love. Acexoc
1. Snow

This was the life I knew.

Weaving in and out of the crowds, I couldn't help the itch to take whatever was in someone's pocket.

I suppose it stemmed from my childhood.

About ten years ago, I was found by sisters, Mary Ann and Anne Marie. These ladies... led at questionable lifestyle. But at the time, I never questioned it.

They saved me.

Mary Ann was a bubble gum pink haired woman with a temper and was the manager of the brothel her and her sister owned. She had deadly fist and even deadlier kicks.

Anne Marie was the quiet pale, pink haired sister, who managed the meat shop next door that her husband owned and would cook for the working girls.

Neither of them 'worked' like the girls they managed and they would not tolerate the pirates, who were the usual customers, harassing the girls in anyway. Anne Marie's husband, hugest man I've ever seen, made sure that every customer knew to treat the girls nicely. Otherwise, they would find themselves in the meat shop.

When they found me, Anne Marie immediately took me home with her and cleaned me up. Then on, she became my mom and Mary Ann my extremely protective aunt. Anne Marie's husband, Jack, gave me my name.

Snow.

It was a simple name, but I wasn't sure if I liked it. But what could I do? I couldn't remember my actual name. It's all because of that stupid scar... at least I think that's the reason?

It was frustrating when the other kids would pick on me for it. Mary Ann didn't want the pirates to get any funny ideas about the kid who hangs by the meat shop and brothel. She had me wear my hair choppy, short, and stuffed under a newspaper boy cap. I would always wear baggy boy clothes and smudges of mud on my face. My scar that was in the middle of my forehead and ended a little bit above my eyebrows stood out against my pale skin that somehow wouldn't tan. The kids would pick on me for that too.

I only found peace when I would go through the busy streets of Clover Island.

Due to my size, I found it easy to just pluck people's wallets and items when they weren't looking.

At first, I would do it only when I was really bored. But then, one day I got a bag from some pirate. Upon looking inside, I was amazed at the treasure inside. There were gold coins, but what really caught my attention was the small purple stone. Holding it up to the sun, it glitter and reflected the rays in a way I've never seen before.

That was the day I became obsessed with jewels. The precious stones were hard to come by and fewer and fewer pirates would have them. I was never satisfied when I got a bag full of gold, but no gem.

No ruby.

No sapphire.

No emerald.

It became a sort of disease to find the most beautiful jewel. But as time moved on, I got taller and started to look more like a girl. Still, I would spend my time, sitting on the roofs of the town, watching for someone to waltz by.

Mary Ann wanted me to find a job and was surprisingly okay with me stealing.

"The pirates probably stole it in the first place," she told me. She promised not to tell Anne Marie if I gave her some of my profits. I gave her everything I stole (about six years worth of stuff) expect for my gems. She was surprised and asked me if it was okay for her to really take everything. I said it was fine, she was my aunt after all. With that, she had the brothel fixed up and the meat shops roof fixed. When Anne Marie asked where she got the money, she replied that she had a very generous customer left his bag of gold.

Just as long as Anne Marie didn't find out, I kept stealing.

One day though, I really wished I had control over the compulsive act.

I was sitting by the docks, in my usual baggy clothing to hide my girlish figure.

Sometimes, I wish I was a boy. I thought as I watched a ship slowly make it's way in. Lately, I've been getting gusty and actually going on the ships to steal.

Pirates began to pile off, taking the bait of the perfectly placed courtesans and the much welcoming bar. Once I thought they were all gone, I climbed onto the ship, and made my way down into the depths. I've become familiar that most basic pirate ships shared the same fame working. Upon opening the storage, I searched for any sign of a treasure chest. I didn't find one, so I made my way to the captains room. At first, I didn't think I was going to find anything, but then I saw a small chest sticking out from underneath the bed. Snatching it up, that feeling I got before looking in a chest, rumbled through my stomach. Opening the chest, I blinked rapidly, trying to understand what my eyes were seeing.

"A fruit?" It was a strange looking fruit with swirls on it. It was a icy blue and the leaves on it looked really weird. Like they were... crystals.

Crystals...

Like... a gem.

I don't know what took over me, but I started to eat it. Blinking, I realized that I actually ate this strange fruit from a random pirate ship. I heard someone coming, so taking to the window, I swung down and held onto the windowsill. I tried to reach the chain that was hanging off the ship. Once I grabbed it, I found myself plummeting towards the water. Opening my eyes, I found my feet inches from the waters surface. Sighing in relief, I was about to climb up the chain when I saw a man staring at me from the window. He started yelling and I lost my grip on the chain.

Slipping into the ocean, I found my limbs had become stones and I began to sink fast. I couldn't move.

Was I going to die?

Was it all going to end here?

But...

I didn't even know who I was.

* * *

another One Piece story... ahh don't be mad! Technically one of the stories is actually a drabble, not a real story.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO

I was wondering, should this be an Ace story? Please review to tell me stuff... please.

Don't worry! My Luffy story will still be on par with updates with this one... if anyone likes this one.


	2. Cry

Warmth.

The feeling of hot breath entering my lungs and pushes on my chest. Water seeped up and escaped my throat in coughs. Blurry vision became clearer as I gasped for sweet air.

"Glad to see you didn't die," a voice said. Breathing deep, I blinked to see a man with red hair look down at me. He defiantly gave me a pirate feel with his scruff. "That's quite brave of you to go on a pirate ship. Lucky for you, we just saw you jump out that window." I just watched him with wide eyes before trying to stand up. "Whoa there. You almost drowned, take it easy lass." I was going to run when I saw the pirates who's ship I was on. The man seemed to notice my panic and directed his attention to the rough band.

"That be the wench I saw!" a stout individual with a long beard told the person who looked like the captain. He was a tall male with a terrifying expression.

_Wench?_ At first I was confused till I realized my hat had came off. The man drew a sword and I was overwhelm with fear and pain. My forehead started to hurt. My breath caught in my throat as I froze in my spot. A cool feeling rushed over my body as I felt numb. I saw surprised faces, but I couldn't move. The opposing pirates ran at us but they all suddenly fell to the ground. The red haired man when over to the captain and seemed like he was talking to him. He then backed away and all the pirates raced onto their ship and left. The man walked over to me and his hand was on my shoulder.

"It's all right. They're gone." I felt relief and the cool feeling left my body, giving me back my ability to move. "Seems like you ate yerself a devil fruit. "

"Devil fruit?" He laughed at my comment.

"Let me introduce myself. Names Shanks." It took me a moment to register who he was.

"You mean Red Haired Shanks?!" I felt stupid for asking, but I had heard amazing stories about him and his crew. He laughed and nodded. He then told me what devil fruit was and that I could not long swim. "I see. Well please come with me so I can thank you. My moms the best cook in town and you all look hungry." The crew cheered. I led them back to the meat shop that doubled as a restaurant. Some of the men found their way to aunt Mary Ann's. "Mom, I'm back and I bought customers," the pink haired woman behind the bar ran towards me and crushed me in a hug.

"Oh my little girl! People were talking about the commotion at the docks!" I explained and received a scolding. But mom thanked Shanks with food and rum on the house.

Shanks and his crew stayed for a few days before they headed off. He warned me to be careful and not go swimming. I took his word and for a few months, things were fine. My parents were a little frightened of my powers at first. Not that it was strange, but mom would ask me if it hurt when my body would turn into this crystal. When I assured her that it didn't, did they finally become okay with the fact. Mary Ann was angry at me for doing something stupid like go on a pirate ship, but her fist only hurt for a little bit.

"Damn, that head of yours has become as hard as rock!" She exclaimed. I could only laugh.

Life was... sorta normal in those few months. Everything went down hill though when my best, and only friend, Silva, got engaged. She would no longer talk to me and her fiancee was very possessive. When rumors spread about me eating a devil fruit and me actually being a girl, she wouldn't even look at me.

I cried one night when I got a note from her. She explained everything. That her fiancee was abusive and that he had been stationed at another island. She wouldn't be aloud to leave the island until she turned sixteen.

Looking down at my bed, I was shocked to see that there were these small, pearl like spheres on my bed. Tears escaped my eyes and that's when I realized that these pearls were my tears. My devil fruit powers must have caused this!

I would regret eating it even more.

About a month before my fifteen birthday, a man came to the island. At first, the towns people payed no attention to him. But then he brought with him a hoard of pirates. They ravaged the town and he took up control. He put a tax on the town, shutting many businesses down, like aunt Mary Ann's.

Many people suffered. But soon, it would be my own suffering that would dull theirs.

One night, I was sleeping and people came and kidnapped me. I remember fighting, trying to get out of the bag.

I cried.

I was brought to somewhere cold and thrown on the hard floor. There, I curled up into a ball and cried. A door creaked and footsteps came in loud thumps. Peering through my hands, there stood a man. Neatly done black hair, dark glasses, and a chilling scowl. He glanced at the floor, picking up one of the many pearls.

"I was going to kill you to get my fruit back," he peered at me through his dark shades. "But I have a better idea."

I was transferred to a room with the bare minimal. A small bed pushed into a corner and an old wooden wardrobe. The only thing else was a tiny table and a wooden chair.

For the next year, I fond myself sitting on that chair, staring out the window. First, he had someone come with a bucket and I had to fill it with pearls, or else.

Once, when I couldn't cry anymore, he gave me a reason to. Screams echoed through the halls and I recognized the voice.

It was Silva. I knew that I couldn't do anything to stop them. All I could do is cry.

So I cried.

I cried for her, for Anne Marie, Jack, and Mary Ann.

I cried for the little old lady who owned the general store.

I cried for the friendly dockmen, for the kids who once bullied me.

I cried for myself, because I was angry. I had these powers, but all I knew how to use them was through crying.

I hated myself.

I hated myself...until that day came.


	3. Savior

I was watching the ocean, when he asked me a simple question.

"What'cha thinking about?"

Yes, so simple.

So came my simple reply.

"The day we met."

It was a year from that day the man took me from my home. I wondered what he did, what got him so riled up that he would go to a mansion in the middle of the woods, to save a girl he didn't even know. I had asked one of the crew members what happened the day they came to Clover Island.

He said that it started like this:

A calm, warm breeze helped sweep the ship belonging to the Spade Pirates, to Clover Island. Upon docking, the crew surveyed the area.

"Looks like another crew got here before us." A member said. The captain, Portgas D. Ace, made his way through town, hoping to find a place to try and fill his endless stomach. The only bar that was open was called the Weeping Whale. His crew followed him inside and he took a seat at the bar. The other patrons looked like they had spent their whole day there, drinking their woes away.

"Don't mind them bums. What can I get ya doll?" A woman with pink hair looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep in days. Ace ordered and she laughed. "Good to see you haven't been infected by the gloom that surrounds this town now days." She said, giving the order to a woman who looked almost just like her, but her hair was paler.

"Why's that?"

"Some asshole came here about a year back. Uses his goons to scare the people of this town to pay him taxes." She seemed to get extremely angry, a murderous intent flashed in her eyes. "Damn bastard took away everything... even my dear little angel." She busied herself with other orders before getting back to him. She took out a cigarette and patted down her apron. "Damn, where the hell did I put that lighter?" She was shocked to see a flame on the tip of Ace's finger. She lit her cigarette and took a long drag. "So you ate a devil fruit too, huh?" He blinked, but smirked at her.

"Yeah."

"What's your name hun?"

"Ace," he leaned back and took in her expression. She stared at him, then leaned forward on the bar.

"You mean that new captain of the Spade Pirates, who's been getting himself quite the reputation?" He grinned and nodded. She took back and took the plates from the woman in the kitchen. She set the plates on the bar and watched as Ace ate. She got frustrated that he kept eating and suddenly fell asleep in the middle of it. Kicking the bar, he woke up and looked at her dazed. "I've got a proposition for you." He blinked.

"I'm a pirate, I-" she cut him off.

"Just let me finish! All of this will be free and hell, I'll let you and your boys drink to your hearts content."

"If?" He was slightly interested in what she was saying. But if there wasn't anything fun about it, he was going to decline.

"If you go to that rat-bastards house and burn that mansion down!" She slammed her fist on the bar, catching everyone's attention.

"I don't know. I could just leave..."

"I'll even get all the girls back together and let your men have a good time." She smirked as Ace's men were really considering taking the offer.

"Booze and women, come on captain." Ace sighed, this was annoying.

"Boy, I'll even give you the gold my niece stole from some pirates for about five years." Behind the bartender was a distressed noise. "You just got to promise me. There should be two girls. They were taken from this town by that asshole, who thinks himself to be some sort of noble. One is a marine's daughter, the other is my niece. You bring them back here save and sound, or so help me, I will make sure you and your crew never leave here in one piece." The aura around the woman caused the men in the bar to cower in fear. She leaned away with a devious smirk. "I would think some guy like you would want to take on the army of men he has." Ace had been itching for a fight for a while. He also wanted to flex his new powers, and when he heard the word 'noble' his skin burned.

"Alright, where is it?" The woman told him about how the mansion was in the middle of the island and that it didn't take long to get there. Ace told his crew he could take care of it all by himself and thus he made his way to the mansion.

He would make this noble pay.

It didn't take long for him to take care of the guards. They were burnt before they could get near him. A scream and a gun shot came from inside of the mansion. Making his way inside, Ace found the room where a man was holding a gun to a young girl with lavender hair. On the ground was another girl, her crimson hair fanned about her, blending with the small pool of blood. The man looked wild and threaten if Ace came closer, he would shoot the girl. The other girl took this distraction as her chance, running at the man and knocking the other girl out of his grasp. They vaulted through the window behind him. Ace helped the girl up, before making his way down stairs. They ran to the back and found the man had died from impact. But strangely, there was a crystal figure laying on top of him. Ace watched in amazement as the crystal reverted to flesh and the girl took a deep breath.

He set the mansion on fire and led the girls back to the town. The townspeople cheered and the girls were reunited with their families. The town threw the crew a party and everything was going well.

Ace took his drink with him as he went to the beach. His mind was on an old friend. Interrupting his thoughts, was a voice of a woman. Looking behind him, the crimson haired girl stood there. The moon's rays caused her hair to shin with violets and oranges.

"I want to say thank you," she started saying. She clearly sounded nervous but then turned her face to him with an adamant expression. "I want to join your crew!" He blinked at her.

"You just went through that, and you want to join my crew? Nah," he said. Her face flared with a heated blush and she frowned.

"Why not!?"

"I don't need girls in my crew." A sudden force caused him to stumble forward as legs and arms locked around his neck and waist.

"Let me join! Or I'll never let go!"

"What!? Argh!" Ace let out a grunt as he tried to pry her off. He felt himself tilt backwards with the sudden new weight. She had turned into the crystal that he saw before. "Damn it! Get off." He yelled, attracting the attention of others. He went stiff and fell to the ground. The girl turned back to normal, blinking in confusion.

"He fell asleep? Hey, wake up." She sat on his chest and pulled at his face. His sudden bolting up caused them to smack foreheads. It didn't seemed to faze either one as they just stared at each other. "Let me join your crew."

"No." They sat there for some time before she started to get watery eyes.

"Please!" He was shocked to see that her tear turned into a pearl. She furiously rubbed her eyes. "Stupid tears! It's all their fault." He sat up and she got up. "Please, as long as I can cry, people like that man will surely come to this island. They will do the same thing he did for my tears. Besides, how else can I repay you for saving my life an this island?" She bit her lip, waiting for him to respond.

"Argh, fine. But don't expect any special treatment because you're a girl." Her eyes lit up and she held out her hand.

"Thanks... captain."

* * *

"Snow!" I turned to see my captain waving me over to him. He had on that grin of his. "Looks like we're about to dock soon. Let's go get something to eat." I sighed, shaking my head with a smile.

"Is that all you think about, food?" He grin before he went stiff and fell over. Sighing, I sat beside him, waiting for his narcoleptic episode to be done.

I was truly grateful to this man for saving me that day.

That day, I decided that no mattered what happened, I would always be by Ace's side.


	4. Happy Birthday

Anne Marie was upset over my decision, Mary Ann was very pissed.

"Oh please, Mary, maybe this is what she needs," Anne Marie said to her sister. I could see that she was trying to make sense of it in her head. Mary Ann just looked away angrily. Anne Marie brought me into a hug and cried. Putting me at arms length, she smiled. "I understand that this is something you must do. When we found you on that beach all those years ago, I was afraid we had found the body of some poor child who had drowned. But when I saw those beautiful blues of yours staring back at me, I couldn't help but feel my heart melt. I was so devastated that I couldn't have a child, and you were my happiness. But... maybe it's for the best. It hurts to let you go, but it also hurts to think that somewhere, maybe, there is another family, mourning the loss of their baby girl. I just want you to always know that I love you, as much as a parent can love their child. And we will always be here for you if you want to come home. Even if you find out who your family is, know you will always have us." Anne Marie couldn't hold in her sobs anymore, Jack had to take her away. Mary Anne gruffly walked over to me. Blinking, I was swept into a crushing hug. Setting me away from her, she bit her lip, holding in her tears.

"Now you remember everything I taught you! If a man is being disrespectful or just an ass, you kick him as hard as you can in the crotch." The crew visibly shuddered at her cruelness. "Don't take shit from anyone, you hear!? I want to see you hold your head high, for the sake of us. I never wanted a kid, but... you've grown on me... now get out of here before either of us change our minds and I don't let you leave." I smiled and gave her one last hug before turning to the ship. Once I climbed up, I turned back to see something that shocked me. Silva stood there, beside Mary Ann.

"Snow!" She cried out.

"Yeah?" she was hesitant.

"Be careful! You come back sometime!" Tears streamed down her face. Smiling, I waved and we took off. Holding my hands to my heart, I thought of what I learned during my year of solitude. I opened my cupped hands and allowed the thin flower petals created of crystal, be swept up in the wind. Closing my eyes, I held that picture in my mind. The picture of the one place I called home. Turning, I looked at the crew, who ready themselves with what they had to do.

"So, tell me." I turned to Ace, who wore a smirk. "If your going to be on my ship, you better have something your good at." I blinked, shifting my weight to my right foot.

"I'm good at stealing, and cooking." He laughed.

"Alright chef, let me show you around." Apparently they didn't really have a cook. They just sort of had a list on who would cook. When we got to the kitchen, I saw it was a horrible mess. Sighing, I shook my head.

"Aunt Mary Ann was right. Never let a guy in the kitchen." Ace raised a brow at me but laughed.

"Hey, so you've got some devil fruit powers right? How long have you had them?" I picked up a dirty plate, dropping it immediately into the sink, swearing that something moved under it.

"Ahhh, about a year."

"So what else can you do other than cry and turn into a statue?" I frowned at the way he said it, but I looked around for soap. We were going to need a lot of it.

"I figured some stuff about it during that year, but I couldn't really use it. Whenever someone came into my room, they had with them... ah, what was it called?"

"Sea-Prism Stone?"

"Yeah that! I would have clawed their eyes out, but they always had that. Made the powers useless." Ace sat down at the table that they had in there, as I started to scrub the counter. "Do you guys ever clean?" Ace scratched the back of his head.

"Eh... I think we have... had a schedule for that." Sighing, I tried to get some strange lump of something that looked burnt on to the counter. Pulling out one of the other skills I taught myself, I felt the cool sensation run down my arms and my hand turned into a bulky looking claw. Just a little scrap and the stuff came off. "Wow! So are you a logia type or paramecia?" As I washed off my claw, I looked at him confused.

"What?" He sighed and got up.

"Never mind... Say, I never asked how old you were."

"Sixteen, turning seventeen in less than a month." He seemed to choke on that fact.

"What!? You're only sixteen!?" He was looking at me like I had no head.

"Yeah, I don't get it." He shook his head and coughed.

"Just, don't let any of the guys find out." Oh, I know what he was talking about now.

"Right. Don't worry, I can take care of myself. Aunt Mary Ann taught me everything she knows. She is one of the most feared women in this part of the Great Blue. Marines used to come to her for training. She hits really hard." I rubbed my head, remembering the countless whacks to my noggin. Ace laughed and flinched, like he remembered something like that.

"Well, I'll leave you to this..." I was about to say something to him, but he had left already. Sighing, I started to scrub the dishes, squeaking when I thought I saw something move again.

I had surprisingly got most of the kitchen done when it was about lunch time. I cooked something simple and called for the guys to come get it. Continuing to clean, I heard some of the guys talking.

"Holy crap! This is the best! Way better than when any of us cooking."

"Yeah! Who knows, maybe this new cook can help fill the capts bottomless pit of a stomach." They laughed. Right, Mary Ann told me about how much Ace ate when he was at the restaurant. Good thing I made the food with that in mind.

"Yeah, compliments to the chef!" Ace said, cheeks full of food. Shaking my head, I continued to organize the pantry.

"Hey Snow," someone said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I let out a squeak before my body froze up into crystal.

"Whoa, did you see that?"

"Yeah, must have devil fruit powers like the captain."

"Oops, sorry about that." I could hear Ace laugh. My body returned to normal and I glared at him over my shoulder.

"Don't do that!"

"Come on, you can quit for today. You've done a lot already. I'll show you to your room." I followed him till we reached a room. I froze when I realized something.

_Wait a second, this is where the captain's room should be!_ He looked back at me with a questionable look. "Isn't this your room?" He grinned and opened the door. Sure enough, a captain's room. There was a hammock and a bed set up in the room. "How am I suppose to share a room with you!" I cried. "My aunt owned a brothel, I know what male pirates are like."

"Oh, come on, I'm not that type of guy." He looked annoyed and I let out a huff. "Would you rather sleep with the other guys." I set my bag on the dresser in the room.

"If I have no other choice." Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him smirk.

"You can have the bed." I blinked.

"What a gentleman." I said, slightly sarcastic. That smirk stayed there.

"What can I say," he said with a shrug.

"I thought you said no special treatment." He scratched his head.

"That's special treatment?" Sighing, I sat on the bed, taking out my most precious bag of gems. I needed to find a place to hide them. "Say, why do you wear that? Shouldn't you, I don't know, wear skirts and pink stuff like other girls." I glared at him harshly before looking back at my bag.

"Like I said, I grew up with an aunt who owned a brothel. She had me dress as a boy all my life. Besides, these clothes are way more comfier that any girl clothes I've worn." He sat in a chair and I looked at him. We had a strange staring contest, until he fell asleep. "I can't believe he is a captain." I sighed while stowing away my precious jewels. Finding an empty draw, I put my clothes in it and keep my underwear in my bag. Placing that in the draw as well, I shut it up and stared at it. Putting my hands on the sides of where the draw met the dresser, I made crystal like hand prints. Testing it out, I found I couldn't open the draw. Nodding happily, I turned to see Ace finally stirring from his sleep. "Are you narcoleptic or something?" he just shrugged.

"Eh, I guess."

For the rest of the day, and most of over a month, I worked as a cook and cleaning lady. Wearing my boyish clothes helped for some of the guys not to hit on me, but some did. When Ace was around, they didn't do it. One time, one of them touched my butt, so I made it clear to everyone on the ship. You touch me, I'll slice you into pieces with my claws. After that, nobody messed with me, since I could also revoke their food privileges.

A random calm day when Chuck, a rather gentle man whom I sort became friends with, asked me when my birthday was.

"May 17, why?" His eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head.

"No-nothing!" Shrugging at him, I followed the rest of the guys into town. Most of them headed over to a bar, which seemed to happen ever time we hit port.

It had rained the day prior on the island, so it was a bit muddy. Walking through town by myself, someone had knocked into me, causing me to fall into a large puddle of mud.

"Oh you poor dear." A middle-age woman came over to me and helped me up. "My, you shouldn't go walking around in those muddy clothes." She ushered me over to a shop and took me in back. It just happened to be a clothing store. "Here, you can wash them here." I thanked her and was left to take off my clothes. My white shirt, that had always taken a beating from dirt, was done for. The stains wouldn't come out. My overalls were also falling apart. The lady came back in and told me to look through the clothing boxes to find something I liked.

"Are you sure that's okay?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded.

"Of course." So I rummaged through and found somethings. She had also let me take a shower, which was nice. I felt too nervous to take a full shower on the ship and would just take vigorously scrubbing, sponge baths. Putting on what I found, I was wearing an off the shoulder shirt with long, baggy sleeves that were a different color that the body part of the shirt. They were black while the body was white. I didn't want my bra to show so I had on a black tank top that covered the straps underneath. Then I had a knee length, black and red plaid skirt. I kept on my tight black shorts underneath. Then I had black socks that went to mid-thigh and white Mary Janes. I felt weird wearing girl clothes. I didn't like showing skin because usually it would just burn in the sun.

"Oh dear, you look so cute!" The lady said.

"How much do I owe you?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Nothing dear, I was just happy to help you out. You're such a beautiful young girl. Why you were wearing those boy clothes, I don't not know. But you remind me of myself back when I was young." The lady laughed and I joined in. I said my good-bye and made my way back to the ship. I looked down at my poor overalls in my arms. I had so many good times in them, I couldn't throw them away. Once I got onto the deck, I was surprised to see no one around.

_Maybe they are still at the bar?_ I thought. _Probably get all drunk. I wouldn't have to cook then. _I put my overalls in... my room. It was still really weird. For the first two weeks, I slept in my crystal form cause I was just uncomfortable. Not because Ace... maybe a little bit, but mainly cause I was in a new place.

Entering the kitchen, I found a note.

_Meet me on deck._

_Ace_

Blinking, I made my way to the deck and found everyone there.

"Happy birthday!" They said, cups of rum in their hands. An arm hooked around my shoulders and I looked over to see my captain.

"Why didn't you tell me today was your birthday?" He asked, fake anger in his voice.

"Today is the 17th? I thought it was just the 8th?" Everyone laughed.

"We maybe pirates, but we know what day it is." Chuck said.

"Come on, drink with us chef!" I accepted the mug they gave me, although I don't like drinking. I'm not against it, I just didn't like the taste. Mary Ann slipped me rum one time, got sick for a week.

Everyone was talking and I just listened. I was surprised that they seemed to have excepted a girl into their ranks. Only when I stood up did someone notice my new outfit. Chuck dragged me away and grinned at me.

"You actually look like a girl now!" He said.

"Keep it down!" I hissed at him, knowing that everyone looked over to us. Punching him in the shoulder, he pouted and rubbed his arm.

"Ow, you punch like a strong girl. So... did you change for the captain? Everyone knows how you are sharing a room." He said, wiggling his brows.

"Do you want the crystal knuckles?" I growled, my face brighter than my hair I bet.

"Come on! Let's get back." I although I felt like they were using my birthday as an excuse to have a party.

Chuck gave me a pretty black ribbon for my hair. I excused myself because I was tired. Returning to my room, I changed into my large shorts and shirt I used for sleeping. I was brushing out my hair when the door opened.

"Going to bed already? You've got a lot to learn about pirate life." It was Ace. He smirked as he set something on the table before walking back out. "Goodnight," he said before shutting the door. I blinked and went over to the table. There was a small box. Opening it up, my eyes went wide. My fingers tingled as I reached in and brought out the pair of crystal earrings. One was the moon and the other was a star. Smiling, I placed them on the dresser before getting into bed.

_I'll have to thank him in the morning_.

* * *

Please review, makes me happier than anything in the world. I ditched homework to do this... now I'm behind


	5. SPECIAL Valentines

Valentine's Day

Sighing, I swept up the mess that the crew had made. They made the excuse that since they were all alone for Valentine's Day, that they could drink all they wanted.

"What a bunch of babies. Who cares about Valentine's day?" I didn't care for the so-called holiday. Mary Ann hated it with a passion because a bunch of guys would go to her, confessing their love for her. Jack would get Anne Marie flowers and they would do all that gooey stuff.

Getting warm, I used my black ribbon to sweep my hair up in a messy bun. I made sure that I had enough hair in front to cover my scar. I had to go back inside to get the mop and bucket because of the rum that one guy split. Everyone was angry at him.

Walking into the broom closet, I tripped and smashed my knee into something.

"Ow!" I hopped on one leg, trying to soothe my knees pain. Falling backwards, I landed hard on my butt. "Hell!" I screamed. I was going to feel that in the morning. Limping out with the mop, I grumbled angrily at my bad luck, which only got worse. Upon stubbing my toe and smacking my head on the bottom of the sink, I sat down for a moment.

Being at port, the guys had all gone to the bar. Probably trying to pick up some other lonely girl. Sighing, my mind flashed to my captain... Had he ever been in love?

"Snow you idiot!" I smacked myself for being stupid. Why should I care if that narcoleptic idiot loved anyone!? I mean, he was really handsome, and had a great body, but... "Grr! Why am I thinking stupid thoughts! Of course, he's probably been with lots of women. He is a pirate... but I wonder." Did he ever love someone? He did talk about his little brother sometimes, and sounded really fond of him. But that was family love. Shaking my head, I made my way out onto the deck and continued to work. After slipping, I finally put things away and just looked over the horizon with a gloomy expression. "My everything hurts. It's more like today is a Friday the 13th." I whispered bitterly. I was just going to have to wait till the guys came back.

"Boy, it got dark fast."

Ace noticed this when he looked outside. Some of his men found a lady friend for the night, while others drowned their loneliness in rum.

Lonely...

He then thought of the red head, who had stayed back on the ship. Feeling sorta bad that they just ditched her with a mess, Ace got up to go check on Snow.

"Hey there cutie. You alone on this day too?" A blonde and brunette made their way to him. They fluttered their lashes in an attempt to woo him. He smirked at them, pushing up his hat. "Actually, I'm not, but those guys are." He directed their attention to some of his crew before he left. Making his way to the ship, he saw that someone had thrown a perfectly good bouquet of roses on the ground. He thought for a moment before picking them up. To his surprise, he saw Snow leaning on the ships railing, watching the stars. She looked so sad.

Had she hoped that she would have a Valentine? His brows furrowed as he thought of his crew. Who could she possibly like? She was close to the navigator, but otherwise she seemed distant from the crew.

Except him.

They did share a room after all.

Jumping on to the deck, he made his way behind her, seeing that she hadn't noticed him.

"What's with that face?" She jumped, still not having control about turning into crystal when scared or surprised. Turning to face him after returning to her pale flesh, she glared at him.

"I thought I said don't do that!" She cried. She flinched as she wobbled on her leg, shifting her weight to her right leg. He used an arm to steady her while presenting the flowers.

"Thought a lady like yourself would like these," he said. Ace wouldn't admit it, but something about her captivated him. It was a year since he had her in his crew and couldn't deny feeling for her. At first, he tried to reason that it was because she was the only girl on the ship. But upon learning about her, little by little, he couldn't help but feel... love.

Snow's POV

I was shocked to see the roses. My heart pounded as my ribs and I felt the blood rush to my face.

"Ah... thank you," I whispered, to shocked for words. Nobody had ever given me flowers. Taking them, I admired their beauty. He grinned at me... oh how I love that grin. In fact, I loved everything about him. I hated to admit it. I had always felt like I was this boyish girl who would never be beautiful enough for some handsome man like him to come and sweep me off my feet.

Grabbing a rose, I concentrated and turned it into crystal. I extended my arm and hid my blush with my bangs.

"Here," I said shyly. A warm hand cupped around mine and I looked up to see Ace smiling. He came close, so much closer than we had ever been. Sweeping my bangs to the side, he frowned.

"What happened?" He already knew about my scar, but when I fell, I smacked my forehead. I didn't know that it was bright red.

"I... fell and smacked my head." The words came out so bashfully. I felt like jello, he was so warm, so close. The cold wind no longer chilled my bones. He took my chin in his hand and leaned forward. My eyes widened as I felt something warm on my forehead. Leaning back, he smirked at me.

"Feel better?" I felt like I was on fire, but I nodded. His hand drifted to the small of my back and his other one held tightly onto my chin. He forced me to look at him as his hot lips met mine. I froze, but surprisingly, I didn't turn into crystal. It felt too good. Kissing back, I was unsure.

My first kiss.

His hand moved from my chin to the back of my head to deepen the kiss. Lacing my arms around his neck, I had to step on my tip toes to try and even the height. I felt him smirk and both his arms circled around my waist, lifting me up and setting me on the railing.

The roses had fallen to the ground, forgotten admits the passion.

He carried me to our room, where we continued kissing in private.

Laying on my bed, we parted for a breather.

"Snow, I've got to say, I'm in love with you." He said it. There was something in his eyes and tone that told me he was telling the truth. "I don't know which one I'm suppose to say, so hell. I'm in love with you and I love you." I closed my eyes, face burning. Smiling, I looked at him.

"I'm in love with you and I love you too." He smirked and kissed me.

* * *

"Snow!" Opening my eyes, I looked over to see Ace walking towards me. Grin on his face, no shirt and hands behind his back.

Ever since that first Valentine's day, every month, he gave me flowers. He leaned on the railing beside me. "Looks like the crew is all busy in town..." I sighed at what he was trying to get at. Hooking an arm around my waist, he gave me sweet kisses.

"Alright-" I was picked up faster than I thought possible and swept off to our room.

We would make-out, then his narcolepsy kicked in and he would sleep with his face in the crook of my neck. I would run my hands through his hair and treasure the quiet moment. This happened every time, but I didn't mind.

He was handsome while awake, adorable while asleep.

My Ace.

* * *

YOU perverts, I bet you were thinking the naughty a while ago... lol.

So a Valentine's special for yall... Yeah... hope you like...

SO I'm thinking of having like one or two adventures with the spade pirates before the whitebeard stuff... sSOOOOOO

IF anyone as a cool idea, or just something random to happen, like Ace and Snow get lost on an island... Yeah, tell me... That's where I"m stuck, so help is nice. Love Yall... Valentine's day sucks...Chocolate is awesome...


	6. Bad New Guy

It had been a few days since my birthday. We had been sailing and there were endless messes to clean up.

I had been in the kitchen, cleaning up after lunch when I heard someone yelling. Wiping my hands on my apron, I made my way outside. On the deck, was a group surrounding something. Ace came out and departed the group.

"What were you doing?" He asked. Getting closer, I found that it was a man he was talking to. He had dark hair that shined blue in the sunlight. He wore a simple pair of dark jeans and a jacket that was open to show his bare chest. My gaze drifted from him, to Ace. That's when I remembered that I had to get the plates from our room! Rushing off, I left the crew with the mysterious guy.

Entering our room, I started to stack up the plates and was about to make my way out of the corridor of the sleeping barracks when someone appeared in my way.

"Can you please move?" I said, not being able to see whoever was on the other side of the stack of plates.

"Please, let me help you with that," a voice said. I didn't recognize it, and was met with the sight of the guy from before.

"Oh, thanks." On our way to the kitchen, he tried talking to me.

"It looks like you are the only girl on the ship."

"Yup."

"Hey, so my name is Blake. The captain let me join the crew on a couple of conditions. What's your name?"

"Snow." We got to the kitchen and I set down the plates in the sink.

"Would you like some help?"

"Nope." He looked extremely uncomfortable, but I didn't understand why. I could handle washing the dishes.

"Are you sure? There are a lot of them."

"Yeah, I'm sure." This guy was weird. Looking at the bag I snatched from him, I found that it's contents were strange. They were little charms that looked like women. They all shinned different colors, but the lack of any jewels made me toss the bag in a bin. Walking over to the dishes, I began to clean when someone burst through the door. I stood frozen, a plate clutched in my hand.

"Snow?" Came an extremely confused voice. My body thawed out and I turned to see a panicked Blake. His eyes were wild and it made me feel very uncomfortable. "Have you seen a bag? I must have dropped it in here!" His tone was almost frightening. I watched as he found it and his shoulders dropped. He whispered something and left. His actions were suspicious but I wasn't sure what to think of it.

Night time came, and I had retried to my room. Ace was in there, sitting at the table with a thoughtful expression. At least, that's what I thought at first. He was actually asleep. I had just taken off my shirt and skirt when he seemed to snap awake. I peered at him from around the screen that we had set up.

"Hey Ace, why did you accept that guy?" he turned his head toward me. I withdrew my head and slipped my night shirt and shorts on. Stepping out, I made my way to the table and sat down.

"You don't think I should have?" He asked. Shrugging my shoulders, I didn't know what to say. Mary Ann used to say that you should always listen to your woman's intuition because it will tell you what kind of person a man is. I hadn't quite developed my intuition yet.

Ace placed a bag on the table and out poured woman's jewelry. My eyes lit up as I felt that familiar rush.

"He had this on his little boat. He allowed us to take everything he had if he could join." Ace slapped my hand away as I reached out to touch it. I could only pout as his scooped the jewelry up and put it in the bag. "Something isn't right," I watched sadly as he shoved the bag in his drawer. As much as I love the gems I saw, he knew I wouldn't dare go through his drawer. They wanted me to also do everyone's laundry. But I had been haunted by the memory of doing laundry for the girls in Mary Ann's business, that I refused to touch anyone else underwear again.

We went to sleep after that. Well, Ace fell asleep standing up so all I had to do was push him over to get to lay in bed. Falling on top of him, my face burned as I got up. I went over to the hammock and laid down. It was filled with a warm scent that helped me sleep.

A week had passed since Blake came on the ship. He was trying to talk to me, which seemed to catch the others attention. When I was mopping the kitchen, I heard someone talking.

"He's getting chummy. Think the capt will be okay with that?"

"No way. You've seen the way capt acts when they are together."

_I wonder who they were talking about?_ I thought. Pushing the mop along the floor, the door opened. Looking up, I saw Blake. He was standing there in the doorway.

"I can help you if you want. Those guys shouldn't make a girl like yourself do all the work." I blinked. Girl like myself? Right, sometimes I forget that I looked like a girl now.

"No, I've got this." He was strange. Why would he want to help me and talk to me?

He only got weirder.

It was the next time we hit port that I went with some others to get supplies. He did quite a bit of the heavy lifting and basically all the women in town just seemed to swoon. After we were done, Blake came up to me.

"Hey, I was wondering if you would like to go with the bar with me?"

"No." He looked rather upset. I had my eye on the large crowd of people. It was a mesmerizing thing, the itch of prospect tingled in my fingers. I left him, weaving my way through the group of people. The bags and wallets I collect would be stuffed into my bag by my side. When there were less people, I decided to get back to the ship. On my way back, I saw Blake with a group of women around him.

_Well, at least I know he is like a pirate. _The caring way he acted made me think he wasn't actually a pirate. Getting back on the ship, I saw Ace asleep on the deck. Sighing, I tried to drag him to our room. _What a troublesome man. _

The day went and most of the guys were spending the next day at the bar. I had been making sure we had everything in the stock room when I heard the door open. Looking behind me, I saw Blake. He didn't look like himself. His face had a twisted look and he grabbed my arm roughly.

"You are a lot of trouble you know that. Why couldn't you be like the other women?" Other women?

"Let me go!" I yelled, trying to get free from his grip. He was unfortunately stronger and I couldn't get myself free. "Let go!" Part of my arm turned into crystal and I smacked him. He grunted and his grip slipped. I took this chance to run.

Getting to the deck, a hand grabbed my shoulder and I was pushed roughly against a wall. My arm was painfully twisted behind my back. I grimaced and squeezed my eyes shut so I wouldn't cry. The pressure was suddenly released and I heard someone cry. Turning, I felt my eyes go wide as I saw Ace standing above Blake with a murderous intent.

"Your that guy with those strange devil fruit powers I've been hearing about." He was holding the bag that I stole from Blake. Standing up, Blake tried to take away the bag. Ace kicked him and a fight started. Ace wasn't going to use his powers on his ship, but he showed that he was more than capable taking Blake down. As Blake struggled to stand up, his hands started to glow. He held them up, as if he was going to launch something at Ace.

I didn't think.

At least, that's what I tell myself.

I had ran in front of Ace, turning myself into crystal. It was some sort of beam that fired off of his hands. The beam bounced off my crystal body and hit Blake. His body started to shrink until he was the size of those female charms I saw before. Turning back, I watched as Ace walked over to it and picked up the male charm.

"Looks like his devil fruit powers could change people into these charms." Ace gripped the little charm before throwing it as far as he could. After a while, he turned to me, a frown on his face. "Why did you do that?" Blinking, I didn't understand what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you step in front of me? You could have gotten hurt or worse, turned into one of those charms." He yelled. I was shocked. Ace had never yelled at me like that before. It was scary and I could feel the tears that threatened to leave my eyes. I'm guessing he saw this because his face relax and he looked ashamed. "I'm sorry-"

"Because you are my captain!" I yelled. He blinked and his mouth hung open. "You are my captain and my savior!... There is no way I can pay you back for what you've done for me, so just let me try to protect you when I can." A tear fell and made a small sound as it hit the wood and rolled away. I felt something on my shoulder, so I looked up and saw Ace standing in front of me.

"Don't cry." He sounded almost angry. He was looking down, touching his forehead to mine. The feeling of this new warmth eased the pain of stress that seemed to steam from my scar. "I don't want to see you cry again." His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

"Okay."

* * *

Please comment and stuff. Makes me happier that happiness it's self... yeah.

Thank you Vampirelover12100 for the idea... More ideas welcomed!


	7. Addiction is a Bad Thing

"What are you guys doing?" The men sitting on the deck scrambled to get up.

"We're working!" They all cried as they started to clean the deck and slipping up. Shaking my head, I couldn't believe these guys. But it was nice. Ever since I came onto the ship about five months ago, I've been able to whip the guys into shape. It's been a rough ride trying to get Ace to clean up after himself. Sometimes I was lucky and he would help with the many dishes he made.

Ace...

He was something else.

I never would be able to repay him back if he kept coming to save me.

It happened when there was a storm, a rough one at that. I was to stay inside, since they didn't want a chance for a devil fruit user to fall off. The tossing and turning of the waves made me nauseous and I laid in bed. A new weight shifted my focus to the shirtless body sitting on my bed.

"Hey," I said, weakly. It had been my first rough ride on a ship and well, I wasn't doing so well.

"Hey," Ace said. He had taken his wet shirt off, but I could tell that his powers kept his skin dry. He stayed there, I'm not sure how long, but by the time I woke up, he was gone. The motion of the ocean (A/N:lol) was calm and I came out to find that we had docked at an island. From what I could see, the island was uninhabited and the guys were trying to fix the minor repairs. Making my way down the rope ladder, I went to Chuck, who was sitting on top of a rock, looking at a map.

"Hey," I said. The tall man waved, before sighing. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, the storm completely messed everything up. We're going to have to wait on this island till the log pose finds the next island. And this place looks dead. A couple of the guys are going to search later, some think they will find treasure." _Treasure?_ I got that twitchy feeling and a cool shiver ran through my body.

Jewels.

"Sounds like fun. I might join them." Chuck gave me the most bewildered look.

"Are you crazy? It could be extremely dangerous." Frowning, I glared at him and crossed my arms.

"So? You don't think I can defend myself? I've been learning a couple things from Ace and the guys, so I think I can do just fine. And if something tries to put their fangs in me, I'll just turn my body into crystal and they'll get a mouthful of pain." Chuck sighed at my angry outburst.

"It's not that... just the captain..." he drifted off in his sentence. Raising a brow at him, I tapped my foot in the sand.

"What about Ace? This will help prove that I can be in the crew and fight for myself." I said quickly. I didn't like when everyone would leave me behind cause they thought I couldn't fight. "You know what, I'm going to go right now!" I ran back to the ship with Chuck yelling at me to come back. I was lucky not to run into Ace on my way to our room. Grabbing my bag and my 'gem finding tools', I ran to the kitchen to grab some food. After that, I snuck behind everyone, into the forest.

My eye was twitching.

My skin crawled.

Yes, there was gems here. They are here.

It was strange to say but since I got my powers, I think I gained another sense to find gems.

Trudging through the forest, the farther I got from the beach, the denser it was. I could easily cut through the foliage with my claws. A few times I felt like screaming because there was a gross bug or something, but I just worked my way around it.

The itch got worse.

When I reached a sort of clearing, I was met with a beautiful sight of a waterfall. The crystal waters splashed about with beautiful colored fish and wild life seem attracted to the area. Rocks covered in moss circled around the lake that the waterfall pooled into. Walking towards the water, fish scuddled away as I peered down at the calm surface. I could perfectly see my reflection, just like a mirror. It was amazing to see such clean water. Cupping my hands, I brought a hand full of cold water to my lips. It tasted amazing, so clean and cool. Very refreshing on this warm day. I splashed a little on my face before I noticed a fish that was... like a...

"Gem..." a whisper escaped my lips. I subconsciously reached out to touch it. It swam away when it saw my shadow, away to the waterfall. I wanted to get a closer look, so I followed it to the mouth of the falls. There I saw the strangest thing. A butterfly, green like an emerald, flew passed me and behind the waterfall. That made me think that something was behind the waterfall. Stepping on the slippery rocks, I slipped (of course) and hit my knee pretty hard. As much as I hated crying, I couldn't help but a few tears to slip pasted my eyes. Getting up, I found I was a bit wobbly and it hurt.

_I wonder..._

I thought it might help to turn that part of my body into crystal. It worked, it numbed the area, but it made it impossible for me to bend my knee.

So I stiffly moved acrossed the rocks, luckily not falling again. I was amazed to find there actually was something behind the falls. An entrance to a cave, one where I saw another butterfly flutter down.

I was prepared.

Numerous times I had gone through the few caves on Clover Island to find if there were any gems hiding there. Probably only found less than five in the many years I spent doing that. So I had a feeling I would be going in a cave and brought a lantern. The damp air made it hard to light a match, which made me wish Ace was here.

_Ace... He is going to be so mad. He'll forbid me to leave the ship for another two weeks._ I sighed, remembering the incident which forced me to stick with the ship for two whole weeks.

Flashback

We had ported at a relatively large town. I wanted to get some products for cleaning my gems and well, I need a few other necessities a woman can't live without: shampoo, soap, some more underwear (because a few have gone mysteriously missing) and some things to freshen the air because guys just smell.

So I was going through town, alone. Which according to Ace, was my first mistake. I knew how to handle myself around lecherous guys. Aunt Mary Ann said a kick to the balls will either straighten them out or make them angrier. I found threatening the crew mates with a crystal ball kick was the best. It would be like a hammer hitting them there.

I had gotten basically everything I needed. I was on my way back to the ship when I was intercepted by a group of drunk men. I tried to get around them, but one of them grabbed my skirt.

"Let go!" I yelled, maybe too loud. Why would I think that when guys are trying to harass me? Well, it didn't take long for a few of my crew mates to come along.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." A member said.

"Shit! The cap!" I was bewildered to see the crew scatter like that. My back was turned to the group, and I felt the grip on my skirt disappear. A rush of hot wind whipped my hair around and I turned to see Ace, with a burning fist, standing above the guy who grabbed my skirt. The other men disappeared as fast as the crew.

"I could have handled it." I said, a slight glare at Ace. He was always coming to save me. How was I suppose to repay him when he keeps doing that?!

"What are you talking about? A little girl like you against all those guys." He was yelling. I recognized that flush face. Ace had been drinking. Normally, nothing ever really affected him like this. Only a really strong alcohol, that I told the guys not to let him drink! He got extremely unreasonable and was a pain to deal with. It also gave him a hangover that made him act like a baby.

"Ace, you are drunk. Go back to the ship and get some sleep." I said with a stressed tone. Trying to be the adult here and he just goes off. Stuff like how I shouldn't be out alone, especially in a town full of drunks. (Feel that irony). He then said since I didn't listen to him, I couldn't leave the ship for two weeks. During that time, we had at least been to a couple island that were in a chain. The guys looked like they were having so much fun. I was mad at Ace for that and for the fact I was the only one who had to really deal with him the next day with that hangover.

End

Shaking off my thoughts, I finally got the lantern lit and I was starting to make my down the rocky path. It wasn't anything special, and I was starting to get tired of the dark caves. Once my lantern went out and I had a panic attack with trying to get it lit again. I didn't like being alone in the dark. I almost did start crying (a tear slipped by).

I had hit a point where I was going to give up. But then that thought in my head kept saying that there was gems in here, and that they were so close. So I kept walking until I started to see a light. Rushing as fast as I could with my braced leg, I stopped with wide eyes.

What awaited me at the end was amazing.

Within a circular room, was a beautiful lake. It was rather small, but the most amazing flowers bloomed in the moonlight. I wobbled over and sat down. Taking out a cloth, I dipped it in the water and wrapped it around my knee. The pain came back, but the cold water helped. I was tired from using my powers on my knee, I didn't have enough strength to get up. Watching the butterflies flutter around the flowers was memorizing and I began to feel sleepy. The sound of footsteps frightened me wide awake and I shuffled to press myself against the walls of the room. I could clearly see the light of a flame. Holding my breath, suddenly felt a pressure on my bum. I shifted to get off the rock. I was busy focusing on that, I didn't notice a pair of feet in front of me. When I finally did, all I could think was, _I know those shoes. _

"Snow," his voice held something in it I didn't recognize. I put on my best innocent face as I looked up at him. No way were any puppy dog eyes going to work on him. Ace looked positively furious. I opened my mouth to say something, but his glaze stopped me. All I could say was "Sorry." He sighed as he sat beside me, resting his head against the wall. "Why do you have to be so much trouble?" Puffing out my cheeks, I looked at him with a slight glare.

"I can take care of myself!" It was scary to see him so serious.

"Really? What happened to your knee?"

"I...fell." I said while looking away. I don't know why, but I felt so flustered when I was around him. I felt like I was on fire.

_Probably because he was sitting right next to me._ My head tried to rationalize, but something told me different. I heard him sigh.

"Why didn't you leave by yourself?" He asked.

"Because I wanted to explore and show that I can take care of myself!" I said with pride. I made it all this way by myself!

"I can see that." The teasing in his tone made me glare at him.

"How did you find me anyways? The cave behind the waterfall is almost impossible to see unless you are right next to it." I asked. He uncurled his hand and in it was a couple of my pearl tears.

"I saw these by the falls and found the cave. I then knew you were here because I found another one." I hated those tears, but for once, they were good. He yawned, and that reminded me of how tired I was. "It will be dangerous to try to get back to the ship at night, so we'll stay here." Nodding, I had to listen to my captain.

"Ow!" a sharp pain when through my bum and I moved to see what I sat on. At first, it looked like just a rock, but pulling on it, it came out to be a fragment of what looked like a chest. "This looks like a chest corner... that means." Ace watched me with an amused look at I used my claws to dig. Taking up a hand full of dirt, something shined at me. They were small, but there were numerous little gems and gold coins.

"Someone must have thought no one would find their treasure if they put it around the outside." Ace said, taking a gold coin as I continued to dig. I gained new energy as I found more and eventually, I found the box. It had been broken, there were claw marks on it.

"An animal must have come here and dug this up. I think this is a bone." After digging for some time, I think I found everything. There were quite a few gold things, and Ace let me keep all the gems.

"You went through all this for the jewels. You are something else." He laughed. I just glared at him while I polished the dirty jewels to their trust luster. After I pocketed all them, wave of exhaustion hit me hard. Even enclosed in a cave, the hole out the top that let moonlight in also let in cool air. I was leaning back against the wall when I felt something on my shoulder. A black mess entered my vision as I felt a sudden increase in heat. Taking a deep breath, I let myself fall asleep to the warmth of my captain and hum of a night breeze.

* * *

I want to thank pitifuldreamer666 for commenting, it means the world to me. It actually made me go, hmmm, I want to get this out for that person. So thank you.

So I want to ask do you guys want a little be more of this before Whitebeard period or should we finally jump into the meat of things.

Luffy: Meat!  
Me:Get out of here Luffy!

Luffy: But you said you had meat?

Me;*sighs* you are too cute for your own good. Maybe I'll find time to update that story next. Although college is an ass and so is finding a job.

Luffy: Get a job where you get meat! Then give it to me.

Ace: Hey Luffy.

Luffy. ACE! Sadie's got meat.

Me:ohmygod, you don't know how weird that sounds /

Ace:*laughs*

Me:Silence you! AS I WAS SAYING, would you like for me to start on AHHHH Luffy! Get off!

Luffy: MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT!

Ace: I'm not going to let you have all the fun.

Me: HELP slk g g ie ja; lkvfds iog;avs cansot;ih type helep klllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllll


	8. Sick

I had reached that point where I want to wake up, yet just want to lay there. There was a tight feeling around my waist and I was super warm. A flutter of the lashes, and a couple mental kicks to get myself awake, I saw something...

Well, let's say it startled me. A loud noise ripped from my throat as I tried to wiggle free.

Yes, wiggle, free.

But his grip just got tighter like a boa constrictor.

"Be quiet," he scowled in a sleepy tone. I couldn't believe Ace's audacity to just hold me in his sleep.

"Let go!" Although I was warm, I could feel my face burn. Squirming more just got my face flattened into his chest. Grumbling, I gave up. I must have fallen back to sleep because when I woke up, Ace was carrying me through the forest. "What!?" I was groggy and confused, for sleep rendered my brain useless.

"Don't move. How am I suppose to carry you when are fidgeting like this?" I gave him my pouty face, as he held onto me.

"Well aren't you just a gentleman," I said. I knew I shouldn't have because of that grin that crossed his face.

_Great, just inflated that head of his even more._

It was a little bit till we got back to the shoreline. It wasn't much of a surprise to see the guys passed out on the beach. Sighing, I knew I was the one who had to clean all those mugs.

Ace set me down, and I tested out my knee. He helped me onto the ship where I went to our doctor. He said it was a sprained knee and made a make-shift brace for my leg. It was a lot better, since the cold water helped the swelling.

"Maybe you should go lay down for a bit?" Ace said, as he was waiting outside the doctor's room.

"I'm fine. I have dishes to do and food to cook." The mentioning of food caused a loud rumble from Ace's stomach. He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, food!"

I got started on breakfast, which didn't help that Ace kept popping in, asking if it was done yet. I first got him done, with his monstrous order. Then a couple guys filed in, most just wanting some of the alcohol remedy my mom taught me. It really wasn't a remedy, just something that was cool that helped a pounding head. Chuck came up to me after everyone left.

"You are a lot of troule you know?" I scooped up some eggs and placed it on a plate before handing it to him.

"What are you talking about?" I said, trying to play innocent. Ace already let me have it.

"The captain was really mad when I told him-" Turning to him with my icy glare, I crossed my arms.

"So you told him?" The tall man looked nervous.

"I couldn't help it! He came around asking for you since it was lunch time. Someone said they last saw you talking to me... and well I didn't want to be barbeque so I told him. He took off into the forest after that." Sighing, I just waved it off.

"Yeah, well I went on a treasure hunt and was rather successful. So I don't care if he was mad or not." Chuck shook his head before leaving. He returned with other dishes and I started to clean up.

It was about midday when I finally relaxed. Right after supper, I went to bed and slept soundly throughout the night. After lunch on the next day, we set sail again. It was then that I got hit by a wave of nausea.

Stuck in bed with a fever, after the doctor left, Ace came in.

"One thing after another," came a teasing tone. I let out a huff before turning away from him.

I wish I didn't go to sleep. It was hard to get up the next mourning.

THRID POV

The next mourning came and Ace an episode, falling asleep just as he got out to the deck. He would awake to the doctor shaking him.

"Captain, this is bad!" He exclaimed. Groggy, Ace shook off his sleep and looked at the doctor with half lidded eyes.

"What are you-"

"It's Snow." Just saying her name pulled Ace's full attention. "It looks like it wasn't just a fever. I think she was bitten by an insect that transfer an illness to her. I believe I identified it, but I don't have anything to truly treat it. We need to stop at the next island so I can get supplies." It had ruined the plans of passing the next island up because it was known for it's marines. But Ace wouldn't let any of his crew suffer like that.

Especially Snow.

Although he knew she hated it when he would help her in any way possible, he couldn't help it. At first, he was a little awkward around her because she was a girl and he was used to being rough with his crew. But then, she showed she was just really one of the guys. In the back of his mind, she was still a girl that he needed to protect.

Whoa, he?

Why'd it have to be him?

Couldn't Ace let the others stick up for her? She was friends with a few of the guys, like the navigator and the doctor.

It was something inside of him that said he didn't want anyone else protecting her. He connected the feelings to his brother Luffy, and how he would do anything for his little brother. The crew saw it as something else, but he ignored them.

Now, he needed to help a member of his crew. He was the captain. Just another member of the crew...

"Alright, we'll dock at the back of the island and try to stay out of the marine's sight." Ace ordered. The crew didn't question him.

One, because he was the captain.

Two, well they all had their own thoughts about the situation. Some were worried about their cook, others thought Ace was just wanted an excuse to mess with the marines. He would. Everyone was used to their captain's gun-ho attitude about fighting, but somehow, now didn't seem like the time for fighting. Not with an extremely ill member on the ship.

The doctor was able to concoct something to help ease Snow's fever and shivers, but Ace could see she was in bad shape. He would spend the next day walking from the deck to his room and back to the deck.

They caught sight of shore in the late evening. Using the night to their advantage, they got to the back to the island, opposite of the harbor. Ace created a team with the doctor, who will head towards the town to get whatever was needed. He hoped that the island had everything needed, even if the doctor(whom I'm going to name Charles) said that most of the ingredients were rather common.

"It's not an instant cure," Charles said to him. "She'll have to continue to take it over a course of about two weeks to flush her system of the toxins."

As soon as the group was ready, they set out through the forest. Ace wanted to get there as fast as possible then back to the ship. He was irritated. When they reached town, they broke off. Ace went with Charles and waited outside of a general store. They weren't open at night, but that wasn't important because Charles was also a well known thief.

"I got them." That was all Ace needed to hear and they headed back. As they neared the ship, the group hear voices that weren't of any of the crew members. Staying behind trees, Ace saw a couple people dressed in marine uniforms boarding his ship.

Ace needed to let off some steam.

Snow's POV

It was hot, too hot. But then it was cold. I would throw off the blankets, only to curl back into them.

There was a noise that jerked me from my sleep.

I tried to cover my ears to block it out. But then it got louder. So much noise. Frustraded, I got up, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders before stepping outside. Everything was spinning at first, but then I was able to focus. I felt my was through the halls and out to the deck. There was the loud noises.

People. They were shouting. Didn't they know I wasn't feeling good?!

Smashing the door open, what I assumed was fighting, stopped. I was greeted with the sight of a pile of marines, beaten and bruised. Ace was currently holding onto the front of a marine's shirt and was about to punch him. Other members of the crew were throwing marines off the ship.

I felt my pounding head burn even more. Closing my eyes thightly, I remember whispering, "Be quiet!" Next image I saw was a corner of Ace's shirt and the marine pinned to the mast with a glimmering shard as the pin. I wasn't sure was happened next because I passed out. When I awoke, a soft light of the sun was spilling through the window. A wet towel was placed on my head and an awkwardly placed Ace was asleep next to me. I could tell his narcolepsy kicked in cause he was holding something up in the air. His muscles seemed to freeze when that happened. I felt a kick in my heart when he suddenly burst up, blinking.

"Oh, Snow." I raised a brow at him, which just resulted in the cloth falling into my eyes. "Here, this will help your fever." Ace helped me sit up and I was forced to drink this lime colored liquid. It tasted like a sour fruit and Ace laughed at my face. "The doc tried to make it taste better." He explained what happened. A insect bite, going to the island, marines attacking the ship, me getting angry and firing crystal shards. I didn't remember that part but I trusted him when he showed me a jagged shard.

"You did that all for me... Thank you Ace."

"Well-" I cut him off with kiss on the cheek. His face flushed slightly.

"Are you sure you didn't get bitten as well? You're all red." He just shook his head before getting up and heading towards the door.

"Get some sleep." And with that, he left. I shrugged before nesting down into my covers. The chills had gone away, but my head was still fuzzy.

_Hmm, his freckles are cute._

Fevers make you have weird thoughts and even weirder dreams.

There was no way that Ace would be a knight in shining armor coming to rescue me from a foul, giant insect... No, he would be a shirtless knight with flaming fists.

Yeah. Weird.

* * *

Thank you Cocoa Liddell and coolchessplayer for your comments! Sorry I couldn't do one in Ace's POV. I don't want to take the chance of making him to OOC cause I don't really like that when it happens, but I suck at putting people into character. Except Luffy, I just have to type goofy stuff and it works.

Luffy: Hey!

Me:Dang it! How did you get back in here!? Zelda! Sick em' (cat glares at me before going back to sleep) Argh, anyways, I think it's time to progress so we can get to the big stuff cause if you look at my deviantart WolfXSoul, then you know a big secret that is going to happen! Well, maybe not a big one but yeah. You can also go there to see Snow when she is a couple years older.

Names of art related to this story are: Snow and Ace, Snow Child and Adult and Crystal Snow. Thief is also the beginning concept of Snow. So yeah, check it out. Love yall


	9. Update

So this is a note thing saying I probably wont be updating... for some time.

I'll probably take this back in a bit, just hang on there with me.

Due to someone telling me things about my oc to make them... prefect in a way. You know, like how to avoid being a mary sue and crap like that. Well, at first I was okay, but then they said something that upset me.

It's hard to explain. It's my own ignorance that created this problem so yea.

So just so I don't go deleting this, I'm just putting this warning up.

bye


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